GAME PREVIEW: BARRACUDA VS GULLS

Do or Die: Wednesday’s game four matchup is a win-or-go-home for the Barracuda after falling 4-2 on Monday in game three of the best-of-five divisional semifinal matchup against San Diego. The Barracuda are 1-4 in game fours all-time and 0-3 in elimination games. So far this series, the Barracuda have managed to score the first goal in each contest, but SD has outshot San Jose in all three games. During the regular season, San Jose went 4-5-0-1 against SD and 3-1 in the final four meetings. The Barracuda are 11-15 in Calder Cup playoff games all-time and 2-3 in playoff series. In the only prior playoff meeting, San Jose upended San Diego 4-1 in the 2017 Divisional Final, including winning all three games in San Diego to close out the round.

Bouncing Back: During the regular season, the Barracuda boasted a 17-10-0-1 record when coming off a loss. The Barracuda are 6-5 all-time in postseason when coming off a loss. After Monday’s defeat, the Barracuda are 6-6 all-time at home in the playoffs and 1-2 against the Gulls in the postseason at home.

That’s a Wrap: San Jose finished up the year with a regular-season record of 39-22-4-4 (H:22-1-1-1/R: 17-12-2-3), the second-best in franchise history. San Jose was a plus-30 goal differential, scoring 41 more goals than they did a season ago. In addition, the Barracuda finished T-first in the Pacific Division with a .676 home winning percentage.

Martin Marching On: Jon Martin netted both San Jose goals on Monday and now has three goals over his last two playoff games. Martin set career highs during the regular season in games played (57), points (28), goals (11), assists (17), plus/minus (+12), game-winning goals (1) and shooting percentage (9.8). Martin and San Diego’s Chase De Leo lead their respective clubs in goals during the series.

Rookie Rising: California native Evan Weinger became just the second Barracuda rookie to record two goals in a Calder Cup playoff game when he scored twice on Thursday and just the third rookie to collect three or more points in a game. Weinger leads San Jose in points (4), T-second in goals (2) and T-second in assist (2) through three games. During the regular season, Weinger finished with 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 60 games.

Fonts Firing: Rookie forward Matt Fonteyne sat out game one as a healthy scratch but now paces the Barracuda with three helpers in two games. As the captain of the Everett Silvertips of the WHL last year, Fonteyne led his team all the way to game six in the WHL finals, finishing with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 22 playoff games.

True That: San Jose forward Alex True concluded his stellar sophomore regular-season just one goal shy and three points shy of Barracuda single-season watermarks in both categories. The Denmark native set a new franchise record with six game-winning goals. True finished the regular season first on the Barracuda in points (55), first in goals (24), second in assists (31) and third in shots (142).

Dynamic Dezy: Nick DeSimone’s 14 goals during the regular season tied him with Tim Heed for the most in a single season for a Barracuda d-man. Among all AHL defensemen during the regular season, DeSimone finished T-seventh in points (46), T-sixth in goals, T-12th in assists (32), T-ninth in power-play goals (5) and T-11th in shots (154).

Gambo Good: During the regular season, among AHL rookies, Dylan Gambrell finished T-10th in the league in points (45), T-fifth in goals (20), T-13th in shots (147) and ninth in points-per-game (.88). Gambrell also skated in eight games up top with the Sharks.